James Forman (“Hen Gates”)
piano
Philadelphia pianist known as Hen Gates who played in Dizzy Gillespie’s big band; he looked so much like Barry that people thought Barry had played with Dizzy.
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What Barry says
Talking about the 1940s, when almost every city had a theatre for big bands, Barry says people accused him of having played in Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. What they had seen was a young pianist with a head like his, named Hen Gates.
Hen Gates, he explains, spelling out H-E-N, was really James Foreman, a pianist from Philadelphia who looks a lot like Barry, perhaps a bit taller. People thought Barry was playing with Dizzy, but he was not.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶203Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶205
In his own words
I had people accuse me of playing with Dizzy’s big band. But what they saw was this kid who had a head like mine, yeah that’s right. But his name was Hen Gates.
And it really was James Foreman, Philadelphia pianist, you know. He looks a lot like me, you know. Maybe a bit taller.
Every mention
0 moments in the recordings, 0 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
In the interviews and notes
Describing the big band theatres that most cities had, such as the Paradise in Detroit and the Regal in Chicago, Barry says some people claimed he had played in Dizzy’s big band; the pianist they saw was Hen Gates, who had a head like his.
Barry spells out the nickname and gives the real name, James Foreman, a Philadelphia pianist who looks a lot like him and is maybe a little taller; people thought Barry was with Dizzy, but he was not.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶203Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶205